Career
Unterberger was probably born on 24 July 1748 in Cavalese, located in the County of Tyrol, today in Italy. This was High Baroque - famed for intricate church altarpieces, sculpture and frescoes. Artists working in Vienna and Salzburg found themselves training in Rome, including Ignaz"s elder brother.
His ability to capture the Italian style was such that his painting "Maternal Love" was thought to have been Correggio"son
Unterberger was a highly capable artist, with experience in creating frescoes, altarpiece paintings, bambocciata and marble work. The artist stated that he only painted for a livelihood, but printmaking was his real passion.
Unterberger"s printmaking is not particularly well-known, although some of his prints were included in the British Museum"s 1994 exhibition and catalogue "Printmaking in the Age of Goethe". He did not engage in printmaking until he returned to Vienna from Rome in 1773, when he applied himself exclusively to the mezzotint.
His inventions included an excavating machine for digging canals, a foot-pedal for the harp, and a machine for preparing mezzotint plates.
Nevertheless his work was highly regarded, and the Imperial Chancellor Wenzel Anton, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg was a patron. His painting Hebe (1795) was a sensation for its lighting effects, and bought by Emperor Francis II for a large amount. He was also made a Royal and Imperial Court Painter.
